The short answer: Choose a short, simple .com name that is easy to spell and say aloud. Make sure the domain is registered in your own business's name, with your own email address, even if a designer sets it up for you. Buy hosting from a company with reliable uptime, regular backups and real support, and keep the login details yourself. Most people who "get cheated" are not victims of fraud. They simply did not know who owned what.
Every website needs two things before anything else: a domain name and web hosting. They sound technical, but the ideas are simple, and getting them right at the start saves a lot of trouble later.
Here are the stories that small business owners tell, again and again. The designer registered the domain in his own name and then stopped answering calls. The cheap hosting went down for three days with no backup. The domain expired because the renewal email went to someone who had left. A "renewal notice" arrived from a company the owner had never heard of, and the owner paid it.
This guide explains domain names and hosting in plain words, shows you how to choose both, and lists the traps to avoid. You do not need any technical knowledge.
What Are a Domain Name and Web Hosting?
Think of a shop. The domain name is the name and address people use to find you, such as yourbusiness.com. Web hosting is the space where your website's files actually live, on a computer called a server that is always connected to the internet.
| Domain name | Web hosting | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your website's name and address on the internet | A computer that stores your website and delivers it to visitors |
| Like | The shop's name and street address | The shop building itself |
| You pay | A small fee every year | A fee every month or year |
| Bought from | A domain registrar | A hosting company (sometimes the same company) |
| If it expires | The address stops working and someone else may take it | The website goes offline |
You need both. They can be bought from the same company or from different ones, and your email addresses (for example, name@yourbusiness.com) use your domain as well.
How to Choose a Good Domain Name
1. Make it short and easy to say
A good test is the phone test: can you say the address aloud, over a noisy phone line, without having to spell it? Short names with common words are easy to remember, type on a phone and share by word of mouth.
2. Use plain English letters
Avoid hyphens, numbers and unusual spellings. A name like "best-cake-4u.com" is hard to say and easy to mistype. If customers could type "4u" as "for you", you will lose some of them.
3. Match your business name
Your domain should look like your business name, so customers who search for you find the right place. Before you decide, check that no other business already uses a similar name, and see whether the same name is free for your Facebook page.
4. Choose .com first
The .com ending is the most recognised and the one people type by habit. Bangladesh's own endings, such as .com.bd and .bd, show a local presence, but they have their own rules and registration process, so ask your designer how it works. If you can, register the .com version as well.
5. Think about the future
Do not put a product, a district or a year in the name if you might change it. A domain like "dhanmondicakes.com" is a problem if you open in Gulshan next year.
6. Avoid copying famous names
A name that is too close to a well-known brand can cause legal trouble and confuse customers.
Who Should Own Your Domain?
This is the most important question in the whole article.
When a domain is registered, one person or company is listed as the owner (the registrant). That owner controls the domain. If your designer registers it for you and uses their name, they own it, and you do not, even though you paid.
To protect yourself:
- Register the domain in your business's name (or your own name), with your own email address as the owner's contact.
- Keep the registrar account login yourself. Your designer can be given access, but the account should be yours.
- Ask for the receipt and keep it.
- Check the owner. You can look up a domain's owner with a WHOIS lookup tool. Some registrars offer "privacy protection" that hides the owner's details. If it is switched on, check the registrar account instead.
If your domain is already registered in someone else's name, ask them to move it to you. This normally needs an authorisation code from the current registrar. Be aware that a newly registered domain generally cannot be transferred to another registrar during its first 60 days.
Paying when dollars are difficult
Many domain registrars and hosting companies are based abroad and charge in dollars, and paying them is not always easy for a business in Bangladesh. That is why many owners ask a designer, an agency or a local reseller to buy the domain and hosting on their behalf. That can work well, as long as the domain is registered in your name, you hold the login details, and you receive an invoice.
Do Not Let Your Domain Expire
A domain is rented, usually for one year at a time. If it is not renewed, the website and your email stop working, and the name can eventually be released for anyone to register. Some businesses have had to buy their own name back, and some have lost it.
- Turn on auto-renew if your registrar offers it.
- Put the expiry date in your calendar, with a reminder a month before.
- Make sure the registrar's reminders go to an email address that you read and that belongs to the business, not to one person who might leave.
- Check the renewal price before you buy. A low first-year price is sometimes followed by a higher renewal price.
Choosing Web Hosting
Hosting comes in several types:
| Type | What it is | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared hosting | Many websites share one server | Most small business websites | Speed can suffer if the server is crowded |
| VPS | A private slice of a server with its own resources | Growing sites and online shops | Needs technical skill to manage |
| Dedicated server | A whole server just for you | Very large or busy websites | Expensive and rarely necessary |
| Cloud hosting | Your site runs on a flexible pool of servers, from companies such as Amazon and DigitalOcean | Developers and websites with changing traffic | Usually needs a developer to set up |
For most small and medium businesses, good shared hosting from a reliable company is the right place to start. You can always move up later.
Questions to ask a hosting company
- Do you guarantee uptime (around 99.9%), and what happens if you miss it?
- Are backups made regularly, and can I restore one easily?
- How can I reach support (live chat, phone, tickets), when and in which language? How fast do you reply?
- Where is the server, and how fast is it from Dhaka?
- Which PHP and MySQL versions do you offer?
- Can I install an SSL certificate so my website can use HTTPS?
- Do I get a control panel such as cPanel and FTP access?
- How many email accounts are included?
- What do "unlimited" space and bandwidth really mean in the terms of service?
- Can I upgrade easily when my website grows?
- What is the renewal price, and is there a money-back period?
On the PHP question: many websites, including those built on WordPress, run on PHP. PHP 5.4 reached end of life in September 2015, which means it no longer receives security fixes, and PHP 5.5 follows this summer. PHP 7, released in December 2015, is faster. A good host should offer current versions.
A simple test of support is to send a question before you buy. If they take three days to answer a sales question, they will not be quicker when your site is down.
Hosted in Bangladesh or Abroad?
The closer the server is to your visitors, the faster your pages tend to load. So think about where your customers are.
- Mostly in Bangladesh: A server in Bangladesh or nearby (for example, in Singapore) is usually a sound choice. Local hosting also lets you pay in taka and talk to support in your time zone, but quality varies, so compare carefully.
- Mostly abroad: Host near them, such as in the United States or Europe.
- Not sure: Run a speed test from different locations with a free tool such as Pingdom or GTmetrix, and ask your developer to try the hosting company's demo or a trial site.
Common Traps and How to Avoid Them
- The designer owns your domain. Always register it in your own name.
- Very cheap hosting with no support or backups. Cheap is fine. No backups and no support are not.
- Surprise renewal prices. Ask for the first-year and renewal prices in writing.
- Long contracts with unknown companies. Do not pay for three or five years up front with a company you cannot check.
- "Unlimited" promises. Read what the fair-use terms say.
- Unexpected "domain renewal" or "search engine submission" notices. If a letter or email arrives from a company you have never dealt with, be careful. Some are designed to trick people into paying or transferring their domain. Your real renewal notices come from your own registrar, so log in and check there.
- Free hosting for a business website. It often shows adverts, goes down and cannot be trusted with your customers.
- No access. You should be able to log in to your registrar and your hosting account yourself.
Keep a "Website Passport"
Write down these details in one safe place, and tell one trusted person where they are:
- Your domain name, the registrar and the email address on the account
- The domain's expiry date
- Your hosting company, plan and renewal date
- Where the control panel logs in, and who holds the password
- The name and phone number of the person who built your website
If you ever change designers, lose an email account or need help in a hurry, this one page can save your website.
How Much Will It Cost?
There is no single price. You will normally pay a yearly fee for the domain and a monthly or yearly fee for hosting, and the amounts differ by company and plan. Ask for the first-year and renewal prices in writing, and if a designer includes them in a quote, ask for them to be listed separately so you can see what you are paying for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy my domain and hosting from different companies?
Yes, and many people do. You simply point the domain to the hosting company. Buying both from one company is more convenient, but buying separately can make it easier to change hosts later.
What if my designer registered my domain in their name?
Ask them, politely and in writing, to transfer it to you or to change the owner details to your business. They will normally need to give you an authorisation code. If the domain was only just registered, you may have to wait, because a new domain generally cannot be transferred to another registrar during its first 60 days.
How long should I register my domain for?
One to two years is usual. Whatever you choose, turn on auto-renew and keep the expiry date in your calendar.
Can I use a free address like yourbusiness.wordpress.com?
You can, but it is not a good choice for a business. You do not own it, it looks less professional, and you cannot have email at your own domain. A proper domain costs little compared with what it gives you.
Is .com or .com.bd better?
The .com ending is the most recognised and easiest for customers to type. A .com.bd or .bd address shows a Bangladeshi presence. If your customers are mostly local, either can work, but the .com is the safer first choice, and registering both is even better.
Is cheap hosting always bad?
No. Many good hosts are inexpensive. What matters is that it has regular backups, reliable support and honest terms, and that you know the renewal price.
Need Help Setting Up Your Domain and Hosting?
If you are starting a website and would like someone to set up your domain and hosting properly, in your name and with all the logins in your hands, I can help. I design and develop websites for businesses and I will explain every step in plain language. Send me a short message about your business and what you need.
